A few questions from a Virgin virgin

Hi all,

Having found this forum I believe I now know why the Virgin page on the FlyerTalk website is so quiet!

I don't fly a massive amount with work, normally a handful of domestic or European trips a year with the odd flight to the US, but all have been with BA or a oneworld partner, and all in economy. In a couple of weeks however I'll be heading to the US on VS1/2 from LHR to EWR and return, due to a good deal available to our corporate TA, and have a couple of quick questions that I hope members of this forum can answer.

1. Having never flown on the upper deck of a 747 (as this area has always been premium seats in the past), would you recommend trying to obtain one of the economy seats in the small upper deck cabin at online check-in? Whilst it would be novel for me, I don't want it to seem like I'm on a 757 crossing the pond (hence I don't fly with United)!

2. I've got a Gate8 compact cabin bag (http://www.gate8-luggage.co.uk/wheeled- ... rrier.html), it fits well within the allowable VS dimensions and looks small and light, but I'm concerned by the 6kg weight limit. How strictly is this applied?

Many thanks for your help.

Matt

Welcome.
I have never had my cabin baggage weighed, if you do choose a seat on the upper deck you may find your choice of cabin baggage won't fit as the overhead bins are much smaller on the upper deck but there is additional storage beside the window seats.

1) From all reports thus far, the Economy Upper Deck seems the best place to go. Snag one of the seats if you can at OLCI.

2) I've had my cabin baggage weighed before in Economy but never in UC. When I last travelled Economy, mine was over (around 7kg IIRC) but they let it slide when I mentioned it had a laptop in it.

We had our carry on bags weighed at Check In in JFK and LHR.

The way to avoid this is to print your Boarding Pass at home and head straight to security, bypassing the check in desks at the airport.

How big is the storage next to the windows? Would you get an average holiday maker's ruck sack in there or just a posh little handbag? We're also wondering the pros/cons of being upstairs and feeling like we're on a 737!!!

Bins by window are narrow but quite deep, no use for hand luggage, but a slim handbag/ man bag etc ok

Welcome.
I have never had my cabin baggage weighed, if you do choose a seat on the upper deck you may find your choice of cabin baggage won't fit as the overhead bins are much smaller on the upper deck but there is additional storage beside the window seats.

There are no side stowages next to the window seats on the Upper Deck in the economy cabin - any items that do not fit either under the seat in front of you or in an overhead will be stored in a wardrobe either at the top of the stairs or on the main deck.

Does that mean the economy seats are pushed up against the side of the cabin which is curved in against your shoulder space? I know one benefit of a 747's main cabin is the almost vertical side wall. My worst flight was on TCX A330 (3-3-3 config) where the window seat only had 2/3 of a normal headrest - there was literally nowhere for my shoulder to go - terrible!

There's a small ledge where the side bins used to be.

Fair enough - doesn't sound as if it might be an issue for us "well built" chaps! I'm assuming other's would have commented by now if it was. I wonder why they took away the storage. The ledge sounds like the perfect drinks holder!

Thanks everyone for the feedback, will aim to do OLCI at T-24h (from the Olympic Park as will be at the Paralympic 7-a-side football final!) and grab a window seat on the upper deck.

Welcome.
I have never had my cabin baggage weighed, if you do choose a seat on the upper deck you may find your choice of cabin baggage won't fit as the overhead bins are much smaller on the upper deck but there is additional storage beside the window seats.

There are no side stowages next to the window seats on the Upper Deck in the economy cabin - any items that do not fit either under the seat in front of you or in an overhead will be stored in a wardrobe either at the top of the stairs or on the main deck.

Sorry, I was thinking of the PE cabin.

Hi Matt,

Have used my GATE8 Wheeled Garment Bag numerous times on the Virgin LHR to HK Economy service as Hand Luggage with no problems at all - it works very well as Hand Luggage.

In addition, I do not believe Virgin have a single bag carry-on policy, therefore if concerned about the weight restrictions, you can always zip off the laptop bag and take them both on as seperate items?

Hope this helps.

Rgds Archie.

Hi Matt,

Have used my GATE8 Wheeled Garment Bag numerous times on the Virgin LHR to HK Economy service as Hand Luggage with no problems at all - it works very well as Hand Luggage.

In addition, I do not believe Virgin have a single bag carry-on policy, therefore if concerned about the weight restrictions, you can always zip off the laptop bag and take them both on as seperate items?

Hope this helps.

Rgds Archie.

Thanks Archie, feedback much appreciated. Looking forward to my trip.

Good news, managed to select an upper deck seat this morning at around T-30 hours and I've just completed online check-in.

Just have one little query, at no point did I have to select whether or not I planned to check luggage (I was asked if I wished to purchase extra allowance, but don't believe there wan an option for no bags). I just want to check that I should head straight to security and having the boarding pass scanned there is sufficient? The info online is a little vague, some places state all passengers that checked-in online must visit the Bag Drop regardless of whether or not they plan to drop a bag. Thanks in advance.

If you have checked in and have your boarding pass then you can head straight through security, no need to visit bag drop or check in area! Have a great flight!